PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 2,722 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday (Aug 23), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 4,762,552 infections since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry's CovidNow portal reported that 2,717 of Tuesday's new Covid-19 cases were local transmissions while five imported infections were logged.

Recoveries outpaced new infections, with 4,856 patients recovering on Tuesday. This brings the cumulative number of recoveries in Malaysia to 4,690,835 since the pandemic began.

The portal also reported that there were 35,551 active cases currently in the country, with 34,068, or 95.8%, observing home quarantine and 31 individuals, or 0.1%, admitted to low-risk quarantine and treatment centres.

The CovidNow portal reported that 1,452 patients, or 4.08% of the total, were currently admitted to hospital for treatment. The number of Covid-19 patients warded at intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country stands at 68, with 41 of these patients requiring ventilation support.

The ICU utilisation rate nationwide stood at 61.3%, with nine states or localities recording ICU usage rates of more than 60%.

Kedah had the highest ICU utilisation rate at 80.8%, followed by Selangor (75.2%), Johor (72.3%), Kelantan (66.5%), Putrajaya (65%), Kuala Lumpur (63%), Perak (61.3%), Negri Sembilan (61.2%) and Sabah (60.1%).

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry's GitHub data repository reported that 11 Covid-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday with three classified as Brought in Dead (BID).

This brings the death toll to 36,166.